


say no to prom

by lcvecarmen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, High School AU, M/M, Prom, Underage Drinking, fluff and lil bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 00:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lcvecarmen/pseuds/lcvecarmen
Summary: the five times jeno tries to ask jaemin to prom and the one time he actually does it.





	say no to prom

**Author's Note:**

> this one's for gretel.

 

 

 

1.

 

It starts with Renjun. It always starts with Renjun. That little bitch. He’s all cute with his even cuter boyfriend with the cutest promposal. Jeno kind of hates it.

 

Yukhei is standing in front of Renjun’s house and he has this huge bouquet of the boy’s favorite flowers. It’s so big that he has to carry it with two hands and the moomin poster in his left hand is barely being held in between his fingers. He stands there with a large smile that takes up most of his face. Their favorite song is playing through a small speaker and Jeno can see Renjun’s mom taking a video.

 

Renjun looks like he’s about to cry of extreme happiness. Jeno might just throw up.

 

Behind the whole cute couple grossness, Renjun’s best friends, Jaemin and Jeno, stand with looks of confusion. They exchange quick glances at each other as they watch their friends play high school sweethearts.

 

Of course, Renjun says yes and they post it all over social media where everyone coos.

 

“Did you really have to ask him to prom, though?” Jeno asks once they’re inside and everything had settled down. “I mean, you guys are already dating and shit.”

 

Leaning against the bottom of the couch, Jeno hogs the plate of cookies and watches as his friends discuss colors for their tuxes. Renjun glares at him hard. Jeno just shrugs and continues to eat the cookies Renjun’s mom made for them. From on the couch, Jaemin scoffs. He has to peer his head around to get a good look at the boy, and it kind of hurts his neck.

 

“Of course he had to ask him to prom, Jeno,” Jaemin responds, seeming frustrated at his stupidity. “If he didn’t do you know how bad that’d look?”

 

His eyes widen in mock shock and his hands go up in surrender. “Oh, I’m sorry for not knowing proper dating etiquette. Please, excuse me and my mistake.”

 

Jaemin mutters something under his breath about assholes and stupidity. He doesn’t pay attention and instead focuses on his other friends.

 

“I didn’t really need to, but Renjun wanted me to. Plus, a quick little poster and roses never hurt anyone,” Yukhei answers for himself.

 

Jaemin smiles at the mention of roses. They were always his favorite. Everybody knew this.

 

“If somebody ever does ask me prom, they better bring me roses,” Jaemin says all excited. “If not, then throw the whole prom away.”

 

Jeno starts to bite his lip nervously. Was he going to do it now? When was the proper time to ask someone to prom? Is there ever a proper time? How did people do this? He can’t do this.

 

Swallowing down all of his nervousness, Jeno picks up one of Renjun’s stray roses and holds it up towards Jaemin. With a lazy smile, he makes a gesture for the brunette to grab it.

 

“You are not trying to ask me to prom, shut the fuck up,” Jaemin says between laughs.

 

Jeno tries not to seem deflated at that response, so he just laughs along and throws the rose at the other.

 

That was the first ever time he tried to ask Jaemin to prom. And it sucked.

  
2.

 

They’ve been best friends since first grade. It was always Jaemin and Jeno, Jeno and Jaemin. You never saw them apart and when they were, they only talked about each other. To some, this can seem annoying, but they were just the bestest of friends.

 

They were seven when they first met and they were on the school playground. Jeno remembers the event perfectly. He often likes to look back at the memory. Jaemin had pushed some bully off of the swingset so Jeno could swing happily on it. They’ve been best friends ever since.

 

The sleepovers and adventures were always fun together. Jeno couldn’t imagine anyone else ever being his number one best friend. It has always been Jaemin and it will always be Jaemin.

 

Somewhere along the line they met Renjun, and they both love him endlessly, but nothing can compare to the bond they shared. It was a completely different level. In sixth grade, they met Donghyuck. He became their best friend, but it still couldn’t meet the level Jaemin and Jeno were on.

 

It was never a competition. It was just how it was.

 

Teachers would try to separate them because of how much mess they made together. Apart, they would be perfectly behaved boys (aside from Donghyuck), but together they were nightmares. All four of them had to sit on opposite sides of the room.

 

“Let me sit next to Jeno right now,” Jaemin tried one day in the middle of sixth grade. His hair was messy, his braces were bright orange and he did not look intimidating at all. “I promise to behave.”

 

The teacher at the time just shook her head and did not let any of them near each other. Donghyuck would just shout across the room to talk to them, so that didn’t work. They tried their best, though. You would think Renjun would be a good student that would listen, but he was just as mischievous as the rest of them.

 

“Miss, I think Jeno has a bloody nose,” he said in the seventh grade. He grinned with his snaggletooth on display when the teacher sent them both to the nurse.

 

That was the first time he ever ditched.

 

In all, they were the bestest of friends. Their group of friends were unstoppable and nobody else could compare. They all cared and looked out for each other.

 

Jaemin held a special place in Jeno’s heart, though.

Some time around eighth grade, Jaemin started to grow out of his baby fat and started to actually look cute. His braces were off and he had learned how to do his hair. Whenever he would smile at Jeno, his heart would pick up speed and his hands would turn cold and sweaty. Jeno didn’t know what that had meant at that time, but by freshman year of high school, he had figured it out.

 

He had a fat crush on his best friend, Na Jaemin. The fattest crush that has been plaguing him his whole entire high school experience. Okay, maybe that was a little over dramatic, but you get the idea.

 

He had to watch him get dates left and right, whether it be with girls or boys. Jaemin was quite popular and everybody fell in love with him so easily. Jeno couldn’t blame the lines of admirers because he was in the same damn line.

 

“How do you get all these dates?” Jeno asked him one day out of curiosity.

 

Jaemin hadn’t known either. He was just really nice to everyone and that led everyone to fall in love with him. It wasn’t hard to love Jaemin, and it was the most frustrating thing about him. No matter how hard you try, you can’t hate him because he never does anything wrong to you.

 

“I don’t really like it, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” he responded sheepishly.

 

Donghyuck just scowled and said, “Fuck what they think, just say no.”

 

So many people had the courage to ask Jaemin out, but never Jeno. He never had the guts to do it.

 

Every time he’d even make an attempt, his throat would clog up and he forgot how to breathe. In short, Jeno didn’t know how to ask out his friend for anything.

 

Aside from the occasional hang outs, Jeno has never asked Jaemin out, and he never will. They could hang out together, just the two of them, perfectly. The moment Jeno asks Jaemin out as more than a friend; that’s when asking becomes difficult.  

 

He’s been trying to ask Jaemin to homecoming for all these years.

 

Sure, Jaemin would always tell him that they would go together as friends, but what if they didn’t? What if they went together as something more than that? Maybe one day they can go and do all the cute shit their cuffed friends do. Maybe one day, but he can’t because he’s stuck admiring Jaemin from afar.

 

“Do you think Mark’s gonna ask Hyuck?” Jaemin asks him one day when they’re in his backyard sitting by the pool.

 

Jaemin in sat on one of the lounge chairs with his yellow sunglasses. His shirt sits on top of his light brown hair, but it tilts off when he tilts his head at Jeno. He was tanning while Jeno was having fun swimming on his on. Jaemin had explained to him earlier about wanting his natural tan to outshine the orange white girls at prom.

 

Jeno leans against the edge of the pool, water dripping off his wet hair. He shrugs and shakes some water out of his ear. He’s on his tiptoes in the deep end, and instead of listening to whatever his friend was going to say next, he jumps back with a splash.

 

When he resurfaces, Jaemin is right there sitting on the edge. He splashes his feet at Jeno and the older just laughs and splashes even more water at the younger.

 

“I’m serious,” he says between laughs.

 

Jeno chuckles, treading in the water. “What do you care?”

 

“Hyuck was telling me about how he really likes him,” he explains. “Maybe Mark will ask before Hyuck can.”

 

Jeno goes underwater and resurfaces next to Jaemin, his arms holding up. He shakes his head just to annoy his friend by getting water onto him. Jaemin just pushes him back into the water.

 

Coughing up some water, Jeno curses and laughs. “You’re a little shit, you know that?”

 

“Oh, please, I get reminded everyday by your complaining ass.”

 

Jeno eventually gets out of the pool by pushing himself out and Jaemin annoyingly commentates.

 

“Stop, I’m just getting out before my fingers turn into prunes,” Jeno chuckles.

 

“Look at my big, strong muscles. I’m Lee Jeno, and I go to the gym. Hoo-Ha!” he teases.

 

The dark haired boy throws his wet towel at the brunette. He just throws the towel into the pool to retaliate.

 

“You’re literally the most annoying person I know.”

 

Jaemin laughs some more and his grin is larger than ever. “You love me!”

 

He does. He really, really does. “I hate you,” he jokes instead.

 

They sit on the lounge chairs together and the sun feels warm against his wet skin. It’s one of the hotter days that May brings. Jeno’s glad he can enjoy some rays before the weather decides to get all janky again.

 

The sounds of spring are loud and pretty to his ears. Suddenly, he hears humming coming from right next to him. He opens his eyes and turns his head slightly towards Jaemin. His friend hums a pop song and nods his head along to the melody. Jeno watches fondly as the pretty hums fill the short silence.

 

He’s going to do it now. Now is the moment he’s going to ask Jaemin to prom and confess all his love. After all these years, he’s going to do it. Past all the missed homecoming opportunities, Jeno’s going to ask the only boy he’s ever loved to their junior prom. He’s going to do it.

 

“Shitheads!”

 

Maybe not.

 

His brother, Jaehyun, storms outside with his loud voice. He totally ruins the moment. His voice is so sudden and loud that Jeno jumps in his seat. Jaemin just lazily opens his eyes and lowers his sunglasses to look at Jaehyun with a raised brow.

 

Jaehyun walks over to him with his basketball shorts and pizza stained t-shirt. This is what college does to students: they ruin them. He burps subtly.

 

“Mom wants to know if Jaemin wants to stay for dinner,” he asks lazily.

 

Jaemin grins and sits up. “Of course,” he answers. “Mom doesn’t have to ask. I love her cooking.” He gets up and enters the house through the sliding door.

 

Jaehyun looks down at Jeno who has his lips drawn tight in slight frustration. He was going to do it. He really was. That was the moment, but his shit brother had to just ruin it.

Almost like he was reading his mind, Jaehyun adds, “You weren’t gonna do it.”

  
3.

 

Jaemin looks prettiest when he’s not trying.

 

He looks prettiest when he’s in Jeno’s room with a big sweatshirt on and spiderman boxers while he’s singing along to classic 80s hit. He looks prettiest when his eyes are closed with his big grin plastering his whole face that it looks like it must hurt to smile that hard. He’s prettiest when he’s happy.

 

Jeno sits on his bed with a light smile on his face as he watches his best friend embarrass himself in front of no one. It’s one in the morning and the music is loud and Jaehyun is banging on the wall for them to shut up. Jaemin just sings louder.

 

“ _Girls just wanna have fun_ ,” he sings on top of his lungs, jumping up and down to no particular beat.

 

His large sweatshirt moves with him and his light brown hair flops around. His face is bare of any makeup and the small pimples on his forehead still make him look pretty. Jaemin’s pretty. He’s alway have been, but at moments like this, Jeno realizes how pretty he really is.

 

Jeno opens his mouth, but closes it right away because Jaemin opens his eyes and pulls him off of the bed. Jeno starts to dance wildly and poorly on purpose. They entangle their hands together tightly. They twirl each other around, their laughter bouncing off the walls.

 

Jeno won’t ask him to prom right now, but he eventually will. He swears it.

 

For now, he’ll just pay attention to how pretty Jaemin really is.

  
4. 

 

Donghyuck asks Mark to prom.

 

Mark was this senior Donghyuck had a _thing_ with. It’s never been official, but they all know anyway. The group of friends all placed their bets in for who was going to ask first. Jeno owed Renjun and Jaemin ten bucks.

 

Apparently, Mark was too slow and Donghyuck beat him to it. It was the most obnoxious promposal ever. The younger did it during their lunch. He had a mic and everything. It was like one of those promposals you see on twitter that make you go _aww_ and Jeno was not impressed.

 

He sat with his friends with a bored expression the whole time. His friends were cheering their friend on as he asked, but Jeno was just sat with his eyebrows raised. And like always, the person being asked said yes. Mark would look like a major douche if he said no, but everybody already knew the two were going to get together at some point.

 

Their friends return from their big dramatics both wearing giant grins on their faces. Jeno can practically feel the happiness radiating off of them.

 

“Renjun, I’m so sorry for all the shit I gave you for your promposal,” he turns to Donghyuck, “because his promposal was even worse.”

 

Donghyuck makes a noise of offense and hits Jeno straight in the face with his water bottle. Renjun laughs at him obviously with big sarcastic _haha_ s. Jeno glares at the whole table.

 

“Say that to my face, asshole,” he hisses.

 

Jeno turns to Donghyuck, face serious. “Your promposal sucked ass.”

 

“Do I see your promposal anywhere?” he asks, his voice raising in pitch. “No because you are not as creative or talented as me. Just admit that I’m skinnier.”

 

Jeno mocks him by saying _skinny_ in a high pitched voice that was similar to Donghyuck’s. The boy just shouts about his voice not being that high pitched. He replies with an even higher pitched voice. The table just ignore them and congratulate the two for figuring out their shit.

 

“I had a poster in the back of my car for like a month,” Mark pouts. “I was gonna ask sooner or later.”

 

“Obviously later never happened,” Jaemin jokes lightly.

 

Mark throws a single soggy fry at the other and curses at him. It wasn’t his fault that he was so scared of Donghyuck. That kid scares everybody. Mark admits he was scared of the big rejection Donghyuck would’ve given him. He would’ve said no and then make Mark a whole meme in front of their school.

 

“Mark, you already embarrassed yourself a million times,” Renjun says with food in his mouth. “You’re a senior just keep it going.”

 

From the sophomore area of the cafeteria, Chenle comes cheering and shouting at them. Right behind him, Jisung calmly followed, slowly clapping.

 

“Wow, big win for the gays,” Chenle says loudly, announcing his presence even more.

 

The sophomores weren’t allowed to attend prom unless they got invited. Jeno’s glad his younger friends won’t be there for the actual party because the they would be twice as annoying with their promposals.

 

“Where’d you get the whole balloon idea from?” Jisung asks, pointing towards the large amount of balloons Mark held.

 

Donghyuck shrugs. “Saw it on pintrest.”

 

“You old ass, you still go on pintrest?” Chenle mocks.

 

They all dispute about the app and its importance in the media. At some point, Jeno grows tired and throws out his leftovers. His appetite had grown short and the lack of sleep was catching up to him quick. So, he quickly says bye to his friends and makes his way out of the cafeteria.

 

He gets to his locker when he realizes Jaemin followed. His friend looked tired, probably from running and going up all the stairs.

 

“Hey,” he says between wethered breaths, “you okay?” He leans against the lockers next to Jeno and waits for his friend.

 

Jeno puts in his locker combination and shrugs. “Real fucking tired. The usual.”

 

Jaemin looks unconvinced. “That’s a fucking lie,” he responds.

 

“I really am tired,” Jeno defends. He pulls some unnecessary textbooks from his bookbag and shoves them into his locker with a loud bang.

 

“You say that everyday,” Jaemin continues. “There’s gotta be something else.”

 

Jeno takes a deep breathe and exhales loudly. He stares into the mess of his locker and doesn’t dare to look at the boy next to him. Jaemin starts to play with the locker door by swinging it back and forth. If Jeno didn’t have the patience, he would tell Jaemin to leave him alone.

 

“Worrying about prom dates, I guess,” it wasn’t a lie and it was all he could say at that moment.

 

Jaemin closes the locker door for him. The bored expression on his face tells Jeno that his answer was not what he wanted to hear. It was the truth after all. The stress of prom and dates were starting to bubble in his head. He knows that it’s stupid. There are much worse things to worry about than a prom date.

 

There are much worse things like his grades and Jaemin never knowing about Jeno’s infatuation with him. He worries that the younger will never catch on and that they’d graduate without ever resolving whatever they had. Parts of him hope for a happy ending, but he knows that the likelihood of them getting together is close to none.

 

“You could get all the dates you wanted, Jeno,” he states. “Literally anyone would say yes to you.”

 

Jeno raises a brow and starts to walk with Jaemin to his next class. The halls were still empty with a few straying students wandering about. They walked comfortably in silence throughout their large school. At some point, Jaemin started to hum that one pop song again. Jeno took this as a cue to start talking again.

 

“How about you?” he asks out of nowhere. “Stressing over dates lately?”

 

Jaemin scoffs. “No offense, but why would I worry about that?”

 

“Dunno,” he shrugs. “You’ve just always been that romantic sappy kind. Thought you’d be into that shit.”

 

The younger swings around the stair railing and rocks back and forth. His face is scrunched up in thought. Jaemin hums in thought.

 

“I guess I’m a little worried about going alone, but I don’t really care,” he answers. “I mean, I always have you to go with.”

 

The boy punches him in the arm roughly. Right at that moment, the bell rings above them, signalling the change of periods. Jaemin smiles lazily at Jeno and goes the opposite direction towards his own class. He doesn’t go that far before he turns around to look back at Jeno.

 

“You shouldn’t worry because you have me too,” he adds loudly.

 

Jeno just ducks his head and laughs softly. If only his friend knew. God, so many things would change neither of them would know what to do. It would mess up so many things. Their whole friend group would change. It wouldn’t be the same, but Jeno wants it so bad.

 

He wants to hold Jaemin’s hand and feel his warm hand in his. He wants to find out if the rumors about Jaemin being a good kisser were ever real. He wants Jaemin to call him his boyfriend and all that romantic shit. He wants to be able to go somewhere with him and tell everyone Jaemin is his and he is Jaemin’s.

 

He wants to ask Jaemin to prom.

  
5. 

 

Parties have never really been Jeno’s scene.

 

There’s too many people and there’s too many stupid people. There are those who are just there to hook up and get drunk, and those are the worst people. Then you have people like him who are there to make sure those people don’t embarrass themselves that hard. That’s his job.

 

Yukhei throws a party two weeks before prom because he can and his parents are away on vacation. Now, Yukhei is a pretty well known guy. He’s on the football team and does track in the spring. He’s got a lot of friends. So, this means there’s a lot of people in one house in one night.

 

When Jeno drives Jaemin, Mark, and Donghyuck to their friend’s large house, he doesn’t expect the title of D.D to fall onto him (he totally does). It’s always his job because he hates the taste of beer and isn’t one to encourage underage drinking.

 

They arrive an hour before Yukhei said it was going to start because he forced them to help him prepare. They park on the driveway and Jeno carries in the beer cases.

 

“Jaehyun says to pay him back next time you come visit,” he tells Yukhei when he drops it onto the kitchen counter. “There’s more shit in the car.”

 

Yukhei smirks lazily and says, “Thank god for your brother.” He pops open one beer and raises it towards Jeno before turning away out of the kitchen.

 

Renjun comes in shortly after, meeting Yukhei as he’s leaving and Jeno has to look away as Yukhei catches his friend by the waist to kiss him. Damn couples. His friend has a big smile on his face and he sighs as he comes to stand next to Jeno. Renjun’s head leans against the other’s shoulder.

 

“Your boyfriend kinda irritates me,” jokes Jeno.

 

“Everybody irritates you, you crybaby,” responds Renjun. “Leave my relationship alone and I’ll leave yours alone.”

 

Jeno backs up a little and the older looks up at him. His face is perplexed as he looks down at Renjun. The older sighs loudly and stands up straight, preparing himself to explain.

 

“I know about your little crush,” he admits quietly. “You’re not exactly the most subtle person even though you think you are.”

 

Jeno becomes even more surprised at himself and at Renjun for being so observant. How long has he known? Has he known for a long time? Is he really that obvious? Oh my god, what if Jaemin knows?

 

“You’re joking,” he responds even quieter. He’s trying so hard to stay quiet. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

 

Renjun clicks his tongue and grabs a beer from the case behind him. “Four years is a long time, Jeno.”

 

“Kinda pathetic, isn’t it?”

 

The older hums and shakes his head. “He’s a nice person to fall in love with. I don’t blame you.” His friend then kisses him on the cheek and pats it before he leaves Jeno alone with his own thoughts.

 

Jeno doesn’t have time to feel embarrassed or shy about his friend knowing because shortly after Donghyuck comes in looking like he just found gold. Jeno presumes something terrible is going to happen.

 

“You’re into Jaemin, oh my god,” he says a little too loudly.

 

Jeno sighs and buries his face into his hands. I guess ⅔ of his best friends now know the biggest secret he’s been hiding. He’d been doing so well, too. At least he made it this far.

 

“Will you please, for the love of god, shut up,” Jeno sighs out. “Actually, can you speak up little for me?”

 

Donghyuck laughs loudly and claps a hand on Jeno’s shoulder. He’s got a shit eating grin on like all of his conspiracies had just been proven. Jeno decides he hates his best friends.

 

“I knew you had to be a little gay for him because you kept trying to steer off every person that tried to hit him up.”

 

“I did not do that.”

 

“Oh, but you did.”

 

Unbeknownst to Jaemin, Jeno indeed tried to steer love interests away. It wasn’t intentional, but he would often stare down boyfriends and girlfriends until they crumbled under his intense gaze. He only uses his RBF (resting bitch face) for good.

 

Jeno rolls his eyes and goes back outside to help with unpacking the car. Donghyuck annoyingly follows him and takes every opportunity to dangle off of him. The younger clings onto his shoulder and teases him.

 

“You like him,” he extends every vowel as he teases Jeno endlessly. “You’ve got the fattest crush, and you never even told me.” He gasps and pretends to fall to the ground.

 

Jeno locks his car, shoving the last case into Donghyuck’s arms. The boy had shut up about his previous topic and was now complaining about the heavy case.

 

“Don’t bring it up,” Jeno says seriously before they enter the house. He stares Donghyuck down and the other just grins mischievously. “I’m not joking around, Hyuck. I fucking mean it. Do not bring it up to Jaemin.”

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes dramatically and opens the door. He nearly drops the case of alcohol by doing so. Jeno pushes the younger’s shoulder lightly, raising an eyebrow at Donghyuck when he looks up.

 

“I won’t bring it up,” Donghyuck promises a little bit more seriously. “I’m gonna let you two deal with your own shit.”

 

Jeno sighs in relief. “For once you actually listen.”

 

“But if you guys are just gonna be stupid then I gotta,” he adds before darting inside.

 

Jeno really hopes his two best friends keep their mouth shut.

 

They spend a good amount of time preparing Yukhei’s house for the party. It was mostly them rearranging stuff so nobody would break anything during the party. His parents had a lot of expensive things, and Yukhei had empathized putting away all the glass.

 

Jeno was in charge of moving the furniture around, Mark had the drinks, Donghyuck was dealing with the music, and Jaemin was putting away the fragile antiques. Yukhei and Renjun were just upstairs doing whatever they hell they wanted.

 

“It’s his party shouldn’t he be helping, too?” Jeno asks all of them when he finishes moving the couch.

 

Jaemin flops down onto the couch and looks up at Jeno tiredly. He had the easiest job, but he was still complaining.

 

“You know that dickhead,” Jaemin laughs. “He invites you just so you can clean up for him.”

 

“I set up the chip bowls and everything,” Donghyuck pouts, sitting down right next to Jaemin. “People better not complain about the music. I put on the best playlist _ever._ ”

 

Jaemin looks at him skeptically. “You mean you just put Hyuna’s _Lip and Hip_ on repeat?”

 

Donghyuck just says _maybe_ and gets up. Jaemin and Jeno are left alone in the living room with the soft playlist playing. Jeno fears if he looks over at Jaemin now, he’ll never be able to take his eyes off of him.

 

He looked good tonight with his hair slicked back with gel and his fit was one of his best. He promised to party hard tonight because finals were just around the corner and it might just be their last. Jeno’s not mad at that because his friend does look exceptionally good.

 

Jaemin looks over at Jeno and whispers his name. When he doesn’t turn to look at Jaemin, he takes Jeno’s chin with his pointer finger and makes him turn. He’s half laying down and he’s looking up at Jeno with mischievous eyes. Then, he pulls out a silver flask. Jeno chuckles and shakes his head.

 

“Where’d you even get that?” he says softly as his weak laughter cuts short.

 

Jaemin sits up and sits even closer towards Jeno. He loosens the cap and waves it around under the older’s nose. Jeno swipes his hand away with a lazy smile on his face.

 

“My dad had it stored away somewhere and I took some of Jaehyun’s hardcore vodka. Cleaned it up real nice and here it is,” he explains slowly as he waves it around. Jeno still refuses. “Oh, come on. A little sip won’t hurt you.”

 

He looks at the flask and then back at Jaemin. The younger’s grin grows even wider when their eyes meet. Jeno then grabs the flask quickly and tips it back just as fast. It stings his throat for awhile, but he avoids hissing to avoid Jaemin’s teasing. He’s never liked vodka or drinking.

 

“Now you can go crazy,” Jeno huffs out.

 

Jaemin laughs gleefully and takes a swig for himself.

 

It starts off like that.

 

Eventually, people file in groups. First, Chenle and Jisung show up with their sophomore friends, but they ditch them to hang out with the older kids. Jaemin tries his best to get the boys away from the liquor, but Jisung yells at him saying they’re only a year or two younger than them.

 

“You’ve literally been drinking since freshman year,” Jisung grumbles under his breath when Renjun hands him a juicebox.

 

“Doesn’t mean you should,” he hums, swatting at Jisung’s head when he grabs the juice agressively.

 

“Shut the fuck up, grandpa,” Chenle snaps jokingly, or at least they think he’s joking. They’re never too sure with that one.

 

The party kicks in pretty quickly and Jeno can’t keep up. He stays by the couch next to Donghyuck’s speakers to make sure nobody messes with them. A can of coca-cola accompanies him instead of any of his friends. They’ve all dispersed once the party went into full swing. It was already eleven, and he was feeling tired.

 

He wanted to take a nap, but the bassing music prevented him from doing so. When he feels his eyelids growing heavy, he gets up and heads towards the kitchen. It feels like a long journey because of the amount of bodies he had to shove in order to get to one destination was uncountable.

 

He didn’t know half of the people here and he felt uncomfortable. Parties like these were never his scene.

 

Entering the kitchen, he hears a crash and a cheer. He turns around to see Chenle and Donghyuck on top of the staircase with sleds and helmets. He laughs to himself shortly and continues into the kitchen.

 

It’s slightly better because he’s alone for a short amount of time. He’s alone until Renjun enters with his jorts and nothing else but glitter on his shoulders and chest. There’s a lot of glitter on his cheekbones and it seems like the party has been going pretty okay for him.

 

“Did some glitter fairy throw up on you or something?” he asks with a chuckle, touching the glitter on his bare shoulder.

 

Renjun swats his hand away and replies, “I’m hanging outside near the pool, but then idiot number one and two decided to go sledding on the staircase,” he groans loudly when he sees there’s no ice. “Now I have to get ice for Chenle and band-aids for Hyuck.”

 

Not a second later, Chenle and Donghyuck come stumbling into the kitchen. Jeno helps them sit down and rest. Both are groaning in pain and holding onto their heads with their helmets long gone. Chenle complains about the bump on his head loudly.

 

“If you hadn’t dared each other to sled down, none of this would’ve happened,” Renjun sighs in frustration, holding the bag of peas to the youngest’s head, “but no. You had to prove how cool you are.”

 

Chenle pouts and doesn’t dare to say anything else.

 

“What happened to you?” Jeno asks Donghyuck, bumping his shoulder lightly.

 

His orange hair was matted down and sweaty. He had obviously gone through something rough. His ripped shorts were pulled up a bit as he showed his bloodied knees and shins. Jeno takes a sharp breath and then flicks his friend on the forehead.

 

“Went a little too hardcore,” Donghyuck mutters. He whines when Renjun applies the alcohol. “Jeno, give me a shot of tequila. I can’t go through this pain sober.”

 

Renjun rolls his eyes as he cleans the wound. “You’re already drunk off your face, you dumbshit.”

 

“You’re right,” he burps loudly and points a finger at nothing.

 

Chenle starts to whine even more and Jeno has to ask him if he needs to go to the hospital, but the boy just complains about the loud music.

 

“It’s hurting my head even more,” he whines, clinging onto Jeno with a pout.

 

Renjun finishes up with Donghyuck. He turns his attention towards Chenle and asks him something in another language Jeno can’t understand. So, he just turns to Donghyuck, who was poking at his new batman band-aids.

 

The younger looks up at him owlishly and then starts giggling. Wow, he must really be drunk.

 

“I spilled someone’s secrets today,” he giggles out. Jeno’s heart drops even further than earlie. “It was yours,” he stage whispers.

 

Jeno takes five seconds to respond. His brain short circuits before he can figure out what to say. His mind shuts down for five seconds.

 

“What do you mean?” he asks with furrowed brows.

 

Donghyuck gestures for him to come closer, so he does. Then, he tells him to come even closer. Once he’s as close as he can, the younger grabs onto his shoulders and practically forces his ear down to his own mouth. It’s kind of really gross.

 

“Jaemin knows you love him,” he whispers.

 

Jeno stands up straight and feels so many emotions at once. The floodgates have opened and he is stressed, sad, angry, excited, and sad all at the same time.

 

He tries not to snap at Donghyuck. He tries really, _really_ hard. Instead of bashing his friend’s head in with a bat, he smiles bitterly and ignores his drunken state. Thankfully, Mark comes in and collects his messy boyfriend.

 

He takes time to think about his next couple moves. Jaemin knows. Oh god, Jaemin _knows_. This can go either way, and Jeno really wants to know. He was never one to like surprises.

 

Jaemin knows now so that means only one thing: he’s going to ask him to prom. Tonight he’s going to do it. Tonight, he’s going to finally do it. He doesn’t care how unceremonious it would be, but this is his best friend. He’s going to ask his best friend to prom.

 

His anger towards Donghyuck disperses and he becomes more grateful because he was never going to act on it anyway. This was Donghyuck’s way on making sure his friends figured out their shit.

 

In a way, this was a blessing in disguise, right?

 

Chenle is still on the counter with the peas against his head. It’s almost comical in a way. His pout is hard and he looks like a nine year old at a high school party. Renjun is no longer talking to him, but he’s on his phone texting someone. He then looks up and sighs loudly.

 

“His brother won’t pick him up,” he complains lightly. “Take him upstairs to rest. Make sure he doesn’t throw up on himself. I’m going back outside if you need me,” and with that he’s gone.

 

Jeno’s left of babysitting duty and it is the worst feeling in the world. He loves Chenle, he really does. He’s the little brother he’s always wanted, but when he’s at a party like this, he really doesn’t want to deal with babysitting.

 

He sucks it up and picks Chenle up off of the counter. The boy hops onto his back into a piggy-back and clings tightly. The water from the bag of peas drip down on him grossly.

 

“Can’t believe I’m stuck babysitting your stupid ass,” he complains as he walks up the stairs to the rooms.

 

“I’m sorry, Jeno,” Chenle apologizes sincerely. “Not my fault you don’t know how to party.” Even when he’s injured and tired, the kid’s still a little piece of shit.

 

Jeno rolls his eyes, but a light smile still graces his face. Chenle just sticks the cold bag onto the older’s neck, causing him to flinch and almost drop the boy. He curses him and Chenle screeches his laugh into his ear loudly. This time he actually does drop the boy.

 

“You stay on the ground,” he jokes as the younger keeps laughing at nothing in particular.

 

Jeno shakes his head in amusement and opens the door to a room. Yukhei has a lot of rooms apparently, so he doesn’t know which room he’s supposed to go into. He just opens the first unlocked one.

 

When he does open the door, a small _oh_ noise comes out from his mouth. A soft, weak oh.

 

Jaemin’s in the middle of the room standing, but he’s not alone. He’s got some guy in his arms and they’re kissing. They must’ve heard Jeno because they separate and turn towards him in sync. It would’ve been creepy to him if he wasn’t so stuck and frozen in time.

 

Jeno doesn’t look over at the guy. He must be tall and nice and funny. Chenle is still on the floor, but he doesn’t pay any attention to that. He just stands at the doorway, hand still on the knob.

“Sorry,” he says quickly before shutting the door again.

 

He helps Chenle up by letting him lean against him. The younger asks him what just happened and Jeno tells him not to worry about it. In the room over, it’s empty and nicely done. He’s grateful for that.  Jeno makes sure he’s tucked well into the nice bed before going to the bathroom.

 

He feels like throwing up. He’s absolutely tired and seeing that just made it ten times worst. Now, he just feels like shit.

 

He curses and paces and grips tight on his black hair. He feels like throwing up.

 

The music downstairs is muffled. He can feel his throat tighten up and his eyes start to sting. The tears start to form dangerously, but he wipes roughly at his eyes. It makes them sting even more, but for a different reason.

 

There’s a knock on the door and it’s Jaemin, but he tells him to go away. So the boy does.

 

“Please don’t hate me,” he hears softly.

 

Jeno lets himself cry. He cries because he actually thought he had the smallest chance and now it’s all over.

 

Jeno hates parties.

 

+6.

 

Jaemin doesn’t talk to him and Jeno doesn’t talk to him. They both know why and the reason is hanging in the air. Both boys don’t dare try to address it.

 

So, Monday comes around and Jeno hesitates as he pulls up to Jaemin’s house. They always go to school together, but he debated long and hard with himself whether or not he should show his face. He was too embarrassed.

 

Jeno reminds himself that they were best friends before anything else. He kind of hates not talking to Jaemin. The last two days were brutal. He’s just ever wanted to see his best friend again.

 

So, he pulls up on Monday and shoots the boy a quick text. A nice simple _here_. He’s nervous, of course he’s nervous. Will Jaemin bring it up? Will he act like nothing even happened? Jeno doesn’t really want to know.

 

He really wishes Donghyuck could’ve kept his mouth shut just this once.

 

He’s playing a game on his phone when he hears a tap on the other side’s window. Looking up, he sees Jaemin. The boy waves and smiles softly. He looks delicate with his hair flopping over purposely. Jeno’s heart picks up speed and he still loves him.

 

He unlocks the door and Jaemin climbs in quickly. The air is awkward between them and it’s silent. He turns up the radio and that pop song that Jaemin always hums is on. It does not make the air any less awkward.

 

He can hear Jaemin take a deep breath before saying, “I think I like you too.” It’s so quick that Jeno thinks he hears it wrong.

 

He turns to his best friend, his eyes probably comically wide. Jaemin is biting onto his bottom lip like he always does when he’s nervous. He just told Jeno that he likes him, and he doesn’t know if he should panic or not.

 

“Can you say that one more time?” Jeno manages to say. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

 

Jaemin laughs lightly and ducks his head. His fingers tap against his knee and takes another deep breath before turning back towards Jeno. The smile on his face is soft and delicate and everything Jeno loves.

 

“I like you too,” he repeats, slower this time.

 

“You’re kidding, right?” Jeno gapes. Jaemin shakes his head. “W-What about that guy and the party?”

 

Jaemin quickly cuts him off by shaking his head. “Didn’t mean shit to me and I was scared,” he admits.

 

“Scared of what?” Jeno asks back.

 

“Scared that I would mess things up.”

 

Jeno turns fully towards Jaemin. They’re still in his driveway.

 

“You would never mess anything up,” he states. “We’re best friends first, remember that. But I can be your boyfriend second and be just as good.”

 

Jaemin looks at him worriedly. “Nothing’s going to change?”

 

Jeno tilts his head side to side hums in question, He really doesn’t know the answer to that one. He supposes nothing really, but he doesn’t know that now. All he can do is hope for the best.

 

“Of course they will,” he answers, “but I’ll still be here for you in every way. I’ll still be your best friend. We’ll just occasionally kiss and hold hands.” Jaemin chuckles and looks at him with fond eyes.

 

He can feel himself spilling everything out. Everything he’s been holding inside his heart for what seems like forever. He’s finally opening up and practically confessing his love to his best friend.

 

So as he looks right back at Jaemin, he can feel his heart racing and he can feel the weight being lifted off finally. He didn’t have to worry about that anymore. He’s got even more things to worry about. Like their first date.

 

Jeno gets brave and kisses Jaemin. It’s a soft, quick kiss. Jaemin has that huge grin on his face when Jeno pulls back.

 

“Wanna go to prom with me?”

 

Jaemin looks at him unimpressed and shoves Jeno roughly. He laughs and protests against the light hits.

 

“Where are my roses, dipshit?” he asks loudly.

 

Jeno remembers the bouquet of roses Renjun left in his car from his own promposal. So, he grabs them from the back by leaning over. It’s under a bunch of trash, but it’s still there. The flowers are dry and wrinkled, but they’re for Jaemin.

 

“Prom?” he asks once again with the dry flowers in hand.

 

Jaemin just rolls his eyes and kisses Jeno again.

  
  


Prom eventually does come around. It’s kind of hectic.

 

They’re all at Renjun’s house for pictures and Jeno hates tuxes. He hates them, but Jaemin looks so good in his, so he doesn’t hate it as much.

 

Chenle and Jisung are there in their regular clothes hyping the guys up. Jisung takes a bunch of pictures for them to post for their social medias. Meanwhile, Renjun’s mom takes the high quality photos meant for the family.

 

All of their friends complain about the humidity loudly. Inside, there was ice cream cookies waiting for all them. So, they all just wanted to get the pictures over with. Donghyuck complains about his tie choking him and they all tell him to shut up as they line up to take a photo.

 

“Oh, you boys just look so precious,” Renjun’s mom coos.

 

“Mom,” Renjun whines.

 

He’s got Jaemin in his arms and he’s smiling at a camera that flashes too brightly. The weather is kind of muggy, but it doesn’t ruin his mood one bit. He looks over at Jaemin at the other catches him staring.

 

“Did I not blend my concealer right or something?” he asks jokingly.

 

Jeno shakes his head and his grin impossibly spreads. He’s so happy right now and it’s killing him knowing he’s got such a cute boyfriend. How did he score this one? His best friend is so lovely in this light and he looks wonderful. Jeno might just be in love.

 

“I might just love you,” he confesses.

 

Jaemin gives him a quick peck on the lips. “I think I might just love you, too.”

 

And yeah, he kind of hates prom, but he kind of loves Jaemin and that’s all that matters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday gretel!
> 
> follow [gretel](https://twitter.com/jaemluvr)
> 
> and follow [me](https://twitter.com/HONEYJlN) if ya want


End file.
